


Reindeer Games

by Infinite_Monkeys



Series: Family Ties [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Christmas Fluff, Everyone is Alive and Mostly Happy, Fluff, Gen, I Didn't Make That Up Guys It's Real, Odin is the Scary Viking Santa Clause, POV Tony Stark, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Freeform, Shapeshifting, Team Bonding, This Sounds So Much More Like Crack Than It Is, christmas specials, infinity war what infinity war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 19:02:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15713187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Infinite_Monkeys/pseuds/Infinite_Monkeys
Summary: Loki is getting along well with the Avengers until a nickname brings up a story that sheds some light on the origins of a classic holiday tale. Tony insists they watch holiday specials, because after a gift like this it justfeelslike Christmas.





	Reindeer Games

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! I finally get to share this with you guys. It's been finished forever, I just had to wait until the series caught up. 
> 
> That being said, this is part of a series. I think the story here pretty much stands on its own (you guys are all smart cookies), but if you'd like to know more about what's going on the previous stories are a thing that exists.
> 
> Standard disclaimers apply: I am not Marvel, I do not own Marvel, and I don't own any of Marvel's characters. 
> 
> Enjoy!

When Thor showed up with his crazy brother and several football-team's worth of other alien Vikings claiming Loki wasn't _actually_  evil, Tony wasn't sure what to think.  
  
It was pretty clear, though, that the best thing to _do_  was to play along. Even if open skepticism didn't risk Thor's anger (and in practice, it seemed wise not to poke at the dude who could call up literal storms when he was feeling all rage-y. Not that Tony usually did wise, but still), it was still clearly a good idea to just go with it for now. If Loki was innocent like Thor seemed to believe, treating him like an evil monstrous city-wrecker wouldn't exactly be fair. And if he was pulling a fast one... at least it forced him to stay on his best behavior, and better to keep him close where Tony could figure out if and what he was scheming. Much better than forcing his hand and making him destroy half the city. Again.  
  
Not that the whole situation didn't give Tony a headache. At least this time Loki didn't _seem_  especially murderous.  
  
At least, not until just now.  
  
Tony didn't think he'd said anything especially offensive. "Hey Reindeer Games, not that I mind you eating all my cereal, but can you at least not put the box back in the pantry?" didn't seem like an unreasonable request. He'd asked politely, even. But the maybe-not-a-supervillain's face had paled and then filled with a quiet rage Tony swore actually dropped the temperature in the room a few degrees.  
  
After a few seconds spent calculating his odds of survival if he made a run for it now (not too good), the epic rage-face turned on his brother and Tony could _breathe_  again.  
  
"You swore you'd never tell that story," he said, voice low and dangerous instead of the manic shouting Tony had expected. "You promised."  
  
"I did not tell it, I swear," Thor said, spreading his hands in an expansive not-my-fault shrug and radiating sincerity. Crumbs from the morning's fourth Poptart, eaten in two bites, dripped from his beard.  
  
"What story?" Tony asked, because he was an idiot who didn't know how to keep his mouth shut.  
  
Loki turned on him then. Any other man would have shrunk back from that sort of scrutiny, but Tony Stark just sort of fidgeted uncomfortably.  
  
"Why did you call me that?"  
  
"What?" Tony cast back, trying to remember anything that could have set him off. "Reindeer Games?"  
  
Loki nodded.  
  
"You know, because of the..." he put two fingers to his head in imitation of the horns on that frankly ridiculous helmet.  
  
Confusion mixed with the anger. Loki touched his own head and frowned at him.  
  
"You—I'm sorry, other-you—wore it during the invasion. The helmet. With the horn-things."  
  
"They look nothing like the antlers of reindeer," Loki said.  
  
"Well, yeah, but there's this movie and...you know what? Never mind. What did you think I was talking about?"  
  
"Nothing," he said too quickly, and his face smoothed over, expression totally blank.  
  
Sheesh. Wasn't this guy supposed to be _good_  at lying?  
  
Whatever it was, Tony wanted to know. Nobody got this defensive about a story unless it was _good_.  
  
"C'mon, spill." He fixed the brotherly duo with an imploring look. Normally, he suspected, Thor would be the one to focus his pleading on, but he had been uncharacteristically careful around Loki in the time they had been here, and he suspected Thor wouldn't do anything right now that might put him on baby brother's bad side.  
  
"Please?" Silence.  
  
"You know I'll just keep bugging you. Better tell me now before anyone else makes it out to breakfast."  
  
Loki's spoon clattered down onto the table. "Fine," he said, "but after this you will let the matter drop, and we will not speak of it again."  
  
Victory. "Scout's honor." He held up what he was reasonably sure was the right number of fingers.  
  
Loki drummed his fingers on the table. He picked up the discarded spoon and tapped it against his lips thoughtfully. "You may be aware of a legend you Midgardians once told about my fa—about Odin, King of Asgard. Every year around Yuletide, he would visit Midgard with a select group of warriors calling themselves the Wild Hunt. They would ride through the countryside and up onto the sky-paths, pursuing game and terrorizing any mortals who happened to be out in the night."  
  
"Lovely guy," Tony put in.  
  
Loki ignored him, but Thor gave him a look that was faintly put-out. Apparently terrorizing mortals was an acceptable pastime, once upon a time.  
  
"Odin, astride Sleipnir—"  
  
"Wait, quick question, is that the eight-legged horse?"  
  
"Yes," Loki said simply. "Now because—"  
  
"Is he your kid?"  
  
"No," Loki said, much more calmly than anyone being asked that question should have managed. Thor, next to him, choked on his muffin. "Though if my uncle is to be believed, he _is_  my cousin. Or nephew."  
  
Thor looked like he was considering this. "He did say that, didn't he? I had forgotten."  
  
"That's messed up," Tony felt compelled to add.  
  
"Perhaps. Now. Because Sleipnir is far greater in speed than the mounts of the other riders, Odin would ride on ahead and amuse himself by breaking into the mortal's homes and leaving them gifts conjured with his seidr, mostly for the children."  
  
"Wait, he'd just break into people's houses?"  
  
"The children loved it," Thor defended. "They would fill their shoes with hay for Sleipnir, and eagerly await their gifts on the morrow."  
  
"Wait," Tony said suspiciously. Something about this story was tripping his 'that sounds familiar' radar, a sense finely honed in the aftermath of the drunken college parties of his youth. "Hold on. How did he get into these houses?"  
  
"Usually he would take the form of a bird and fly down the chimney," Loki said calmly.  
  
"Oh my—your dad is Santa Claus!" Tony was pretty sure his jaw literally dropped, which he didn't think was actually a thing until now. This was… this was amazing. He needed to tell... well, everyone, but right now probably Steve or Bruce or _someone_  who wouldn't look at him like he'd just lost his mind, like this was normal and why was he making a big deal. "Santa Claus is real," he paused, taking that in, "and he's a badass space Viking! This literally could not get any better."  
  
"Perhaps I shall end the tale there, then."  
  
"Nuh-uh, Rudolph, keep going. No way am I ever letting this go now."  
  
Loki sighed. A put-upon sigh. The kind of sight reserved for people who do _not_  have Santa Clause for a dad. Although, if what he had heard so far about Odin was true, then maybe it was time to reassess how jolly old Kris Kringle actually was.  
  
"In any case, people came to expect this yearly tradition, both the warriors of the hunt and the children in the villages. Then, one year, the night of the planned hunt fell in the middle of a powerful snowstorm.  
  
"Odin Allfather, like Thor here, has a limited amount of control over the weather. But the storm was fierce, and large, and it is far easier to call up such weather than to banish it." Thor nodded knowingly. "So it took nearly all the Allfather's magical strength to banish the storm to a light drizzle and a strong, obscuring mist. He could not even conjure his gifts on the spot; we had need to load them up in a sleigh, to be drawn behind.  
  
"Now the weather was passible, if uncomfortable, but the problem remained that in the dark and the fog, the warriors of the hunt could not see where they were going, and the houses of the villagers were indistinguishable from the surrounding forests and plains. They had need of someone who could give light to the surrounding area, to simultaneously light the way of the hunt and keep the villages illuminated."  
  
Tony bit his lip. The story was ringing enough bells he was fairly certain he knew where this was going. This was like...well, it was like Christmas. Christmas and his birthday all rolled up into one. The only thing that kept him quiet was fear that if he interrupted now, Loki would stop talking, and he _needed_  to hear the rest of this.  
  
"Most mages can conjure light," Loki continued, "but to do so on such a scale would be difficult, and there are few serious users of seidr in Asgard. Yet even at a young age, I was skilled with light-based magic, as it is the basis for the manipulation of illusions, which is one of my strongest talents. I was one of the only people in Asgard besides Odin himself who could accomplish such a thing, and the only one who was not a woman or well advanced in age."  
  
"How young are we talking here?"  
  
Loki blinked. "I was perhaps five hundred at this time. About… ten or eleven of your mortal years."  
  
"We were neither of us allowed to join the Wild Hunt at this time," Thor added, "though I begged our father to allow me to come."  
  
Trying to imagine itty bitty versions of the Viking Brothers just made his brain return a 404 Page Not Found. Maybe Jarvis could do something with age-regression software to help him picture it... He raised his mug of coffee, signaling Loki to continue.  
  
"The hunt could not be cancelled, not without losing face, so my father asked me to come and maintain the spell of illumination while the Hunt rode. Of course, I agreed. There was a complication, however. Remember that Odin needed a sleigh to bring along the gifts for the children, as his full energy was diverted into holding back the blizzard. The sleigh was full, too packed for a rider, and in any case there was no horse strong enough and intelligent enough and hardy enough against the cold to pull the sleigh save Sleipnir, and he was the Allfather's mount.  
  
"I was, however, even at this age a talented shape-shifter. At first I planned to become a horse myself, to pull the sleigh, but I found that in that form, young as I was, I could not withstand the cold. So instead, I took onto myself the form of a similar beast, but one more suited to the icy climate."  
  
"A reindeer!" Tony crowed. "You turned into a reindeer and pulled Santa's sleigh!"  
  
"Yes," Loki said, glaring as though he couldn't understand the source of Tony's reaction. He. Didn't. Know. This was so good. Tony propped his chin on his hand and leaned in.  
  
"I did the job assigned to me and I did it well. I brightened the way, and even through what remained of the fog I picked out the sky-paths that were safe to tread unfailingly. It was on that night I earned the kenning Loki Skywalker "  
  
"No," Tony said, unable to quite believe his ears. "They did not call you that."  
  
"They did," Loki said, looking confused and wary again. It seemed like his default expression around Tony, now. "Some still do."  
  
"Shut up." He realized how that sounded and quickly added "but not really. Keep going, please."  
  
It was official. Loki couldn't be evil. He wasn't allowed, because he was most definitely Tony Stark's new Most Favorite Person.  
  
And they were so totally watching Star Wars. Right after just about every Christmas special ever.  
  
"Before this," Loki said, softly now, "I had been teased rather mercilessly about my decision to pursue an education in magic rather than focusing myself exclusively on the path of a warrior. It was my hope that in being useful to the Hunt, in being permitted to join, in however unorthodox a manner, before even Thor, I would win the respect of my tormentors. That they would finally acknowledge that the value and usefulness of my skills equaled their own."  
  
"So was this when you finally got to join in all the reindeer games?" Tony asked. "You know, join in with the group, get picked first at space Viking dodgeball, all that jazz," he added when the brothers only looked confused.  
  
Loki snorted. "Hardly. If anything, the teasing became worse. It was centuries before people stopped offering me carrots and then laughing uproariously at my expense. Whenever I would join a hunting party on the palace grounds, people would ask if I intended to participate as a hunter or a steed."  
  
Oh. So not with the Rudolph-like happy ending, then.  
  
"That sucks," Tony said sympathetically, because it totally did.  
  
"I am sorry, brother," Thor said, making determined eye contact with the table.  
  
"Yes, well, it was long ago, and I do not dwell anymore on the slights of the past. That way lies madness, I think."  
  
"If it helps," he said, "I believe we were all merely jealous that you had been permitted on a Hunt so far in advance of any of us. Father was quite pleased with you, and that fanned the flames of our jealousy. That is no excuse, though. I am sorry."  
  
Loki waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, I knew of your jealousy. It was not exactly subtle, and it is an emotion with which I am well-acquainted. Besides, I heard your apology the first time. No need to repeat it."  
  
"But I am—" Thor trailed off in muffled grumbling as Loki picked one of the mini-muffins off the table and shoved it into his brothers mouth.  
  
Well. The ending was a bit of a downer, but that didn't change the fact that this was the Best Story Ever and the rest of the team needed to hear it Right Now.  
  
Or they needed to watch Rudolph Right Now. He couldn't decide which was more important.  
  
Both. It needed to be both.  
  
"Jarvis?" he asked. "Where is everyone? Never mind, it's not important, just tell them to come down here. And put Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on in Home Theater A5. You know what? Have them meet us there. And make popcorn."  
  
"Very well, Sir." Yes. That was why Jarvis was also Tony's favorite person (what, he could have more than one). He hadn't pulled Santa's sleigh or been a Skywalker (and Loki probably actually had Jedi powers. No, not probably, he totally did. If they worked together they could probably make the most kickass lightsaber.), but he was pretty awesome nonetheless.  
  
"You swore," Loki said petulantly, "on your honor as a scout that you would not reveal this to any other."  
  
"I was never in scouts, Rudolph."  
  
Loki looked chagrined, but not, at the moment, murderous, so he figured this was probably okay. Tony's enthusiasm for the story seemed to have mostly won him over.  
  
"C'mon, let's get down there before the movie starts." The two space Vikings trailed uncertainly after him, and it was all he could do not to laugh at the open looks of wariness they gave him.  
  
They reached the theater and, at his prompting, settled onto one of the couches as the opening jingle started to play.  
  
None of the others had made it down here just yet, so Tony paused it and tossed the remote onto the table. The silence was awkward. Tony hated awkward silences. They gave him entirely too much time to think, and then stupid things would sneak out of his mouth before he had a chance to stop them.  
  
Like "Hey, so do you think you could show me?"  
  
Loki looked up at him from the couch, expression inscrutable. "I can do a great many things, but I am no reader of minds. Although..."  
  
"The reindeer. Could you, like, shapeshift or presto-change-o or whatever you do—now?"  
  
Thor looked faintly alarmed, and by the disapproving way Loki's lips pressed together Tony was sure he was about to refuse. Instead, he stood, spreading his arms in a way that made the...cloak? Cape? Wherever weird kind of clothing space Vikings wore fan out around him.  
  
A mild green glow settled around the clothing, and his silhouette shifted in a way that boggled the eyes, stretching and morphing and contorting until what stood before him was...  
  
Really impressive, actually.  
  
Tony was pretty sure this wasn't what your typical reindeer looked like. For one thing, he wasn't sure, but he didn't think reindeer were supposed to be taller than him. Looking up made him feel absolutely tiny.  
  
The reindeer, if it was that, was mostly a snowy white, with large patches of darker brown over his face, lower body, and legs. Gracefully branched horns curled high atop its head, blunt but still dangerous-looking. It was thick and well-muscled, with curly, wool-like fur that couldn't have been too comfortable in the warmth of the indoors, even with the air conditioning. The eyes that regarded him were warm gold-brown with flecks of green and unmistakably intelligent.  
  
"Neat trick," Tony said, looking the now-giant reindeer over. He poked the heavy shoulder with two fingers. "Where does the extra mass come from?"  
  
Reindeer-Loki flicked his ear backwards, then calmly walked over to a space beside one of the couches and folded his legs under him two-at-a-time, a mannerism undoubtedly either borrowed from instinct or learned through awkward practice. When he settled his legs were curled for the most part underneath him, leaving him looking a little like an enormous housecat with really tall horns.  
  
"You can change back now, if you want to," Tony suggested.  
  
Another ear flick. He didn't have to speak reindeer to know he was being dismissed.  
  
"No really. I mean it's cool, thanks for showing me, but I'd rather not have a reindeer just hanging out in my tower."  
  
The reindeer snorted, reminding Tony of the horses he had been forced to learn to ride, back when he was younger and perhaps the only rich kid who didn't want a pony.  
  
Thor moved and sat down on the floor, leaning against the reindeer's side and stretching out his legs. "It is no use, Tony Stark," he said. "When my brother chooses to sulk in the form of a beast, no amount of persuasion will coax him back before the time of his choosing. Be grateful he is not a dragon, or a bilgesnipe or—"  
  
The large head swung around, snuffling at Thor's ear before taking a lock of blond hair in its teeth and tugging hard. Thor cut off with an indignant yelp and pushed the reindeer away.  
  
Clint chose that moment to amble in looking half-awake. He glanced at the screen and groaned. "Please tell me you didn't wake me up and drag me down here to watch Christmas specials in June." He scratched the back of his head, then froze, letting his hand drop. "Is that a reindeer?"  
  
"Indeed," Thor said. He left it at that.  
  
"Did you know that Odin was Santa Claus?" Tony said. "That is _the_  reindeer that pulled Santa's sleigh."  
  
"Seriously?" Clint eyed the reindeer suspiciously. Behind him Natasha (and when did she get here?), raised an eyebrow.  
  
Thor nodded. "Truly. Tony Stark has told us that you mortals have immortalized the tale, and we have come to see it."  
  
"Humans, Thor. We like to be called humans."  
  
"Yes, right, my apologies. Is it true that the humans still celebrate my father's visits?"  
  
Bruce came in while Clint was explaining Santa Claus to Thor, and, to his great credit, seemed to take it in stride that Tony wanted to watch holiday movies as a team, and he grabbed a bowl of the popcorn and curled up on the couch with his legs tucked under him. He glanced at the reindeer, waved to Thor, and started eating the popcorn. Man hadn't said a word. That's why they were bros, him and Bruce. That and science.  
  
Clint had flopped down on the couch, and Natasha stretched nearly on top of him in that weird practically-a-single-person thing they did sometimes, when Cap showed up.  
  
"What's going on? Jarvis told me to come down here. Is there some sort of problem?"  
  
"Nope." Tony popped the 'p' just to watch the good Captain flinch. "We're watching 'Rudolph'. Saved you a spot on the couch."  
  
"Is that a—"  
  
"Reindeer? Yes. Thor brought him." Which, technically, true. Tony picked up the remote, pointed and clicked to turn on the movie (honestly, he could've asked Jarvis to do it but he was making a _point_ ) and dropped onto the couch next to Bruce.  
  
Cap looked torn between giving Tony a Talk about misusing his Avengers assembling privileges and giving Thor a Talk on appropriate pets to be kept in the tower, but eventually he sat down, uneasily, with a 'we will discuss this later' look on his face.  
  
Tony had spaced out, already arguing with the good captain in his head (and beating him soundly), when his thoughts were interrupted.  
  
"Is that tiny singing doll supposed to represent my father?" Thor sounded aghast. Tony glanced at the screen. Indeed, Santa the puppet had a little song-and-dance number.  
  
"Loosely based," Tony clarified, and Cap shot him a look. Right, he wasn't here for that part of the conversation. Someone would have to fill him in later.  
  
"My father would never keep elves as slaves, as this puppet man seems to do," Thor asserted.  
  
A bit later, "Why is there so much snow? Where are they, Jotunheim? Not that there's anything wrong with Jotunheim," he said quickly as the reindeer snorted. "But Asgard is a land of eternal summer. My father would not choose to live in this place of snow."  
  
"Where is the Wild Hunt? How shall Santa strike fear into the hearts of his enemies with such unimpressive and musical companions?"  
  
"Why does not Rudolph simply challenge these others and defend his honor? Surely the color of his nose does not render him unable to do battle?"  
  
For all of Thor's commentary, he seemed to be enjoying the movie. At some point he had pulled the giant reindeer's head to a position where it rested on his shoulder, and he was gently and absentmindedly stroking the fur on the enormous nose. Loki, for his part, watched intently, but his reactions were impossible to read. Possibly because Tony had zero experience reading the emotional expressions of reindeer. Occasionally an ear would flick one way or another, but he had no idea whether that meant anything, or what it might signify if it did.  
  
Eventually, the movie came to an end, and they were left with a jangling Christmas tune as the credits rolled. Natasha got up and announced that she was making peppermint hot chocolate, despite the fact that it was eighty-five degrees outside, and Clint and Thor trailed after her into the kitchen, presumably to increase their chances of getting some. Steve excused himself to go for a run, which was normal for him when he and his energetic super-soldier body had to sit still for more than an hour. Bruce had fallen asleep on the couch, curled up around the armrest, and was snoring gently.  
  
Loki the badass reindeer ambled into another room, and Tony pulled out his phone and snapped a few adorable pictures that Dr. Banner would beg him to delete (as if Tony Stark's backups didn't have backups, ha) before following.  
  
When he slipped into the dim room and pulled the door shut behind him, Loki was back to his normal human...er, Asgardian? non-reindeer self.  
  
"So what did you think of the movie?" he asked, half-leaning, half-sitting on a dresser near the door.  
  
"The portrayal of elves was offensively inaccurate. I have many friends who are elven, and they would be quite upset."  
  
Tony snorted. "While I don't doubt Legolas would be pissed, it's not what I meant and you know it."  
  
"The tale does bear some superficial resemblance to my own experience, I will admit that. It makes me wonder if the true story was ever told to you humans. Before earlier today, of course."  
  
He took a few unhurried steps to the window and looked out on the streets far below, studying the landscape more than admiring the view like guests usually did. "Though if it was, I must wonder who told it. Not I, certainly."  
  
"Maybe it's all a really weird coincidence? I mean, the movie wasn't exactly the same as the story you told us."  
  
"Not exactly, no," he agreed.  
  
"The ending was happier," he ventured, and winced at how much it sounded like prying.  
  
"Indeed." Loki... hesitated, as though choosing his words carefully. "Though I am not certain that this happy ending was the best possible outcome."  
  
Tony's eyebrows went up. "Really? How so?"  
  
"The other reindeer... they did not respect Rudolph, and they treated him poorly as a result. I think that perhaps... perhaps he should have been less focused on winning their approval, and on getting to join in their games, when he could have focused on the friends who cared for him even before he was useful to them. The elves and snowmen and... you understand."  
  
Tony nodded.  
  
He paused for a moment, as though choosing his words carefully. "I suppose I would have liked for Rudolph to realize that Reindeer Games are not the only ones worth playing."  
  
Tony...got that, actually. "That would be very mature of him, I think."  
  
Loki smiled. It was a small smile, but it was much more _real_  than most of the ones he'd seen.  
  
The door creaked open, and they both spun around reflexively.  
  
Clint tensed when he saw Loki—he still wasn't over the whole mind control thing, which, fair, even if they weren't actually the same person—but his face was forcibly neutral as he joined them. He was holding something, but from this angle Tony couldn't tell what.  
  
"Where's the reindeer?" Clint held up the something he was holding, which turned out to be a bunch of carrots. "I was hoping to make friends," he explained.  
  
Tony and Loki looked at each other, and the two of them burst into uncontrollable laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so the part where Odin is the terrifying Viking Santa Clause... I didn't make that up. According to Norse myth, Odin pretty much swept through town around Christmas time, terrorizing the villages with a horde of undead Viking warriors (yes, in the myths they were zombies, as if this needed to get scarier) and delivering gifts to good children. Not exactly who you want to 'see you when you're sleeping', amiright? 
> 
> So I learned about this, and I thought surely there must be tons of fics about Odin Santa, given the size of this fandom. So I searched, and found... nothing. Not a single one. I'm not saying they don't exist, but I came up empty, so I wrote one. 
> 
> If you guys know of any other Odin-as-Santa fics (or have written one), feel free to drop me a recommendation!


End file.
